COMPLICATION OUTCOMES BASED ON PREOPERATIVE ADMISSION AND LENGTH OF STAY FOR PRIMARY PALATOPLASTY AND CLEFT-LIP PALATE REVISION IN CHILDRENAGED 1 TO 6 YEARS

With increasing focus on outcome studies, there is continued need for data about whether same-day admission and reduced hospital stay have a dverse effects on surgical treatment, including that for cleft lip and palate. In this study, medical records were inspected for all cleft l ip and palate patients, aged 1 to 6 years, who had primary palatoplast y or cleft/palate revision in this treatment center between 1978 and 1 992 (N = 329). Length of stay for 251 (96.5%) of the 260 subjects admi tted the day before surgery was from 4 to 7 days; 9 remained in the ho spital longer than 8 days. Length of stay for 67 (97.1%) of 69 patient s admitted the day of surgery was from 2 to 3 days; 2 were in the hosp ital for 7 days, and none for 8 or more days. Thirty-seven instances o f surgical complications were reported for the 260 patients admitted t he day before surgery (14.2%). Twelve complications (17.4%) were recor ded for the 69 patients admitted the day of surgery. There was no sign ificant difference in the number of complications between the two grou ps of patients (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.5682). There was no signifi cant difference in the types of complications observed between the two groups (Fisher's exact test). Surgery was performed at age 1 year for 61 of the 69 patients admitted on the day of surgery (88.4%). The mea n age of this group was significantly younger than that of patients op erated on earlier than 1989 and admitted on the day before surgery (Wi lcoxon's test, p = .0001, z = 4.48). The results of this study show th at there is no statistical difference in the number and type of compli cations observed regardless of whether the patients were admitted to t he hospital the day before or the day of surgery.